Tales to Astonish Vol 1 60
* Supporting Characters: * Antagonists: * Other Characters: * * Giant-Man Fan Club * * Locations: * ** *** **** Henry Pym's Laboratory * ** *** *** Items: * * * | StoryTitle2 = The Incredible Hulk! | Writer2_1 = Stan Lee | Penciler2_1 = Steve Ditko | Inker2_1 = George Bell | Letterer2_1 = Sam Rosen | Editor2_1 = | Synopsis2 = In a hidden cave in the New Mexico desert, the Hulk is once again going through the process of reverting into his alter ego: Bruce Banner. After the transformation is complete, Banner wonders if the Hulk is his true self, and if he'll ever be free of his curse. At the military rocket base, General Ross is complaining to his daughter Betty about Banner's tardiness and that the new robot (which is supposed to study nuclear explosions at close proximity) he just built is likely a dud. Banner shortly arrives, nobody knowing that there is a spy in their midst. General Ross scolds Banner for being late to work on the robot, and Betty asks Bruce to confide in her the reasons he is so frequently absent (a request he denies). Banner works on the robot again, but his thoughts soon return to the Hulk and the nature of his transformations. He works through the day, until General Ross tells him that he must have the robot ready for testing the next day. Working through the night to finish the robot, Banner discovers someone fleeing the outside hall. Getting too excited over the events, Banner transforms into the Hulk. The Hulk, not caring about the possible spy or Banner's invention, leaves the base to plan his next attack against humanity. At dawn, the spy knocks out the robot's intended pilot and climbs into the device and walks it out to the testing range. The robot withstands a nuclear attack, and attacks from tank artillery. Suddenly, the spy has the robot destroy the tank, much to everybody's shock. The Hulk, witnessing this display recognizes the robot as Banner's creation and wants to destroy it. The spy battles the Hulk as an ultimate test of the robot's indestructibility. During the battle, the robot withstands the Hulk's attack, and gains the upper hand when the Hulk gets excited enough to cause his transformation back into Bruce Banner. The spy easily knocks out the weakening Hulk and flees the scene. Investigating the scene, some soldiers find Banner and bring him to General Ross for questioning. Ross refuses to believe that there was a spy. He suspects that Banner piloted the robot and hid it somewhere, until a soldier reports that the robot was spotted moving through the desert. He orders his troops to pursue it, and when Bruce offers to build an even stronger robot to combat the original, Ross declines, because he suspects that Banner is somehow involved with the spy. The story ends with Betty trying to console Bruce, and Bruce's thoughts considering the menace that the Hulk poses to them all. | Appearing2 = Featured Characters: * Supporting Characters: * * Antagonists: * Other Characters: * Locations: * ** *** Items: * | Notes = Continuity Notes The Beast of Berlin! * A number of elements in this story should be considered topical references per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616. Particularly the fact that, in this story, Germany is still split into East and West Germany. clarifies, while this story takes place in Germany, it was not during the Cold War, and the communist operatives were actually spies. Publication Notes * Story I, "The Beasts of Berlin" is Job# X-765 * Story II, "The Incredible Hulk" is Job X763. * There is neither a text story nor a letters page in this issue. | Trivia = | Recommended = | Links = }}